The Badge of Marshal Brennan (1957)

Best movie of this year hands down!

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Jim Davis was a popular western actor in the fifties who usually played villains and/or second leads. In "The Badge of Marshal Brennan" he gets to play the lead, a hero in spite of himself.The story has accused killer Jeff Harlon on the run from a posse. He crosses into Apache territory where the posse abandons the chase. He then comes across a wounded marshal, Matt Brennan (Douglas Fowley). When the marshal dies Harlon picks up the marshal's badge and rides into the next town, Banock.Arriving in Babbock, he learns that the town doctor, Steve Hale (Harry Lauter) suspects an outbreak of black spot fever which he believes is being spread by the cattle of cattle baron Colonel Doniphon (Louis Jean Heydt). The son of local Indian Chickamon (Lawrence Dobkin) has died from the fever and vows to kill the doctor. In fact. the doctor is almost lynched by Doniphon's son Shad (Lee Van Cleef) when Harlon intervenes.Posing as Marshal Brennan, Harlon steps into the dispute between the cattlemen and the town. Assisting him are the town sheriff (Carl Smith) and his Deputy (Ric Vallin). Meanwhile "Brennan" strikes up an acquaintance with café owner Murdock (Arleen Whelen).This was a essentially a low budget "B" movie. It doesn't have much in the way of action until the finale, which includes a dandy fight between the Davis and Van Cleef characters.Also in the cast is Marty Robbins complete with Mexican accent, as a ranch hand. Robbins and Smith were both popular country and western singers of the day, however neither sings a note in this film. As actors both made excellent singers.As "B" westerns go, this one is average although it's good to see Davis finally get the girl.

Jim Davis, later of DALLAS fame, is a gunslinger in this hokey back yard western who assumes the identity of a recently deceased federal marshall when he runs into a town being run by bad guys. He quickly straightens things out and proceeds to move on, but things keep happening to keep him in town. There actually is a plot: the only rancher of any consequence in the area has badly infected cattle, and will kill anyone who tries to interfere. The town doctor stands up to the rancher and Davis and the local sheriff back up the doctor. A young Lee Van Cleef is the ranch owner's sadistic son. The action is intermittent at best and poorly staged, the soundtrack would have better been left without music, and most of the cowboys are clean-shaven and neatly attired in that 1950s Roy Rogers style.

This is one of the better 'B' Westerns you're likely to come across, featuring Jim Davis in the role of a somewhat ambiguous outlaw who takes up a badge after he comes upon a dying marshal in Apache territory. Their brief conversation provides an ever present backdrop to the story, with constant references to a man's inability to outrun his shadow. The 'new' Marshal Brennan finds himself in the town of Banock, where a doctor (Harry Lauter) suspects that an outbreak of black spot fever might be about to overrun the town. Together with Sheriff Carl Smith (Carl Smith, can you believe that?), the pair manage to hold off the villainous Donaphin forces, whose diseased cattle threaten the entire territory.I liked the pacing and development of the story, with some rather unique elements that I haven't seen in a Western before. The most interesting was the scene where Shad Donaphin (Lee Van Cleef) breaks Doc Hale's vial of blood, and the contents are shown dripping down the face of the camera lens to give added emphasis. There was also that scene when the Donaphin goons were about to hang the Doc just before the marshal makes the save - just how tall a tree was that where they rigged up the noose - and how did they get the rope up there? Holy cow, it looked like the branch was a hundred feet high! One of the bad guy posse even remarked how this tree should hold, which made me wonder why they couldn't find a normal size tree. They're like everywhere aren't they?I have to say, this was definitely the most intelligent role I've ever seen Harry Lauter in. I best remember him as a kid from watching 'Tales of the Texas Rangers', and have usually seen him in either dubious good guy roles or as an inept villain in classic TV episodes of Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and a host of others. He actually did a commendable job here as a wise and brave country doctor who wasn't afraid to mix it up with the baddies when necessary. It was also gratifying to see that the local sheriff wasn't in the pocket of town boss Colonel Donaphin (Louis Jean Heydt), although you couldn't really tell during his first screen conversation with Brennan. It looked like a classic set up for the figurehead lawman to try and thwart the good guy from getting the upper hand, as all the while, it was repeatedly teased that the marshal would just ride off into the sunset instead of getting mixed up with the locals. One thing I'm always on the lookout for in older films is the sense of life in simpler times, as in the price of goods at Murdock's Café. How about ham and eggs for a quarter, red beans for a dime, and cup of coffee for a nickel! Arleen Whelan did a fine job as Miss Murdock, although I still find it a little difficult to think that Brennan would allow himself to be roped into a romance by the show's finale. For an almost prophetic insight into the spaghetti Western genre of the Seventies, keep your hearing tuned to the musical score throughout the film. The frequent strumming of an electric guitar was a constant thread, and the reverberating drumbeat during the massing of Donaphin's men on the cliff just before the cattle drive were great accompaniments to the action. There was even that lively theme song to bookend the story about a man on the run, very ambitious for a 'B' flick.The one thing that had me scratching my head though occurred right at the very end of the picture. As the good guys make there way back in to town following the clash with the Donaphin's, they're shown heading to Murdock's café, standing alone almost at the edge of the river. Correct me if I'm wrong, but all throughout the picture, Murdock's was right in the middle of town!

The Badge of Marshal Brennan is a "B" western starring Jim Davis who later gained fame as the Ewing patriarch in Dallas. Davis was an imposing gentleman with a rugged face and a deep commanding voice. He played villains in "A" westerns and heroes in "B" westerns. In The Badge of Marshal Brennan he plays "The Stranger", a man on the run, who comes across a dying marshal. After the marshal dies, he buries the body and takes the badge. At the next town, he is mistaken for the dead marshal. The town had sent for Marshal Brennan because of an epidemic, outlaws and panic. The Stranger sees it as a chance to hide from his pursuers. What he doesn't realize is that by taking on the badge of Marshal Brennan, he takes on the responsibilities of the dead marshal.It is an excellent movie, one I remember well, even after many years. Davis, as always, give a strong performance as a man who has to look inside himself and finds much more there than he thought. It has mystical overtones that are interesting but do not interfere with its tough "B" western quality. If it ever comes out on DVD, I would strongly recommend it to any western fan.